Kentucky

The current moratorium is under review. Days before the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a bill, that would have eased restrictions on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kentucky, failed to pass the state legislature dashing the hopes of atomic energy advocates.

Senator Leeper’s bill cleared the senate but failed to pass the Kentucky House for the third year in a row. Leeper vowed to introduce the bill once more next year.

Kentucky’s nuclear debate is still largely hypothetical as no company has proposed building a nuclear power plant in the state.

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FRANKFORT, Ky. – A western Kentucky lawmaker whose district is home to a uranium enrichment plant resumed his perennial push Wednesday to lift the state’s ban on the construction of nuclear power plants.

State Sen. Bob Leeper said his legislation, meant to signal Kentucky’s friendliness to the nuclear industry, would put it on “equal footing” with other states if the federal government approves the construction and operation of new plants.

Leeper’s bill cleared the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee over opposition from three lawmakers and a leading environmental activist. The measure, backed by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration, now heads to the full Senate, which has supported removing the moratorium in past years…